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Assemblyman Ben Hueso is seeking a state probe into a San Diego city permit for a Walmart neighborhood grocery at the old Farmer’s Market east of downtown.

Hueso sent a confidential memo to a legislative audit committee on June 6, three days after The Watchdog reported about two five-figure political contributions given by Walmart to Mayor Jerry Sanders’ pension ballot measure — one at the beginning of the market approval process and one at the end.

In the memo, Hueso said requests for the city to audit the process have been ignored, so he asks that state Auditor Elaine Howle take the case. A legislative committee will consider his request today.

Sanders spokesman Darren Pudgil said the legislative effort is about politics, not the needs of San Diegans.

“This project is supported by the community because it will provide the kinds of affordable groceries and household items that aren’t conveniently available to people who live there,” Pudgil said.

Hueso says the timing of the two contributions, totaling $45,000, is suspicious. One check came the same week a construction application was submitted and the second check arrived in March, just after final approval. The pension measure passed in June.

“There is no good reason for an Arkansas corporation to have an interest in how San Diego handles public employee pensions,” Hueso wrote in his audit request to the committee.

The Farmer’s Market building at Imperial Avenue and 21st Street had been vacant for two years, leading Sanders and others to tout the project for its revitalization potential. The project is expected to bring about six dozen jobs and fresh groceries to an area lacking both, supporters say.

Questions soon arose after bulldozers went to work April 18. Critics maintain that Walmart was doing more extensive renovation to the exterior than allowed.

Litigation followed. A judge denied a temporary restraining order to block the project, saying it would be unsafe. The lawsuit is pending.

In an email, Steven Restivo, Walmart’s San Diego-based senior director of community affairs, said permits were secured by the landlord and were subject to “a comprehensive review process by a range of departments in the city.”

Thus far, Restivo continued, the courts have “determined that our opponents have failed to demonstrate that the construction process on the vacant farmer’s market building is in any way inconsistent with the city-approved permits and demolition plans.”

He said Walmart “agrees’ with the city’s 2009 decision that “residents living near Imperial Avenue need more affordable grocery options for their families.”

Hueso, a former San Diego City Council president, raised a number of issues and questions in his letter.

“The final projects were significantly modified after their original approvals and those changes were never brought before the public for review,” Hueso wrote.

Hueso, D-San Diego, contends the permits “repeatedly state the building’s exterior would not be demolished or altered and its interior would receive only minor tenant improvements.”